Wonder by R. J. Palacio: Pop Culture References and Allusions

Wonder is full of references to Star Wars, classic cartoons, rock songs, and famous plays. Auggie uses them to explain how he feels, and other characters use them to describe him, sometimes kindly and sometimes not. When readers know what a reference means, they understand the scene much better.

Each page below covers one part of the novel. For every reference, you’ll find where it appears in the book, the background you need, a short video, and a question to talk about.

Choose a Part

EpigraphsWhere each part begins

Part 1August

Part 2Via

Part 3Summer

Part 4Jack

Part 5Justin

Part 6August

Part 7Miranda

Part 8August

For Teachers

Each reference is written for students in grades 4–6 and supports standards on figurative language and allusion (CCSS RL.5.4 and RL.6.4). Students can use the pages on their own while reading, or you can project one reference as a warm-up before a read-aloud.

Videos load only when a student clicks play and use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode. If a video is ever removed from YouTube, its card will say so instead of showing a broken player.

Book passages aren’t reprinted here. Each section tells students where to find the moment in their own copy of the novel.

Allusion Tracker

Wonder Pop Culture & Allusion Tracker

Name:Date:Class period:

What is an allusion? An allusion is a brief reference to a person, place, story, song, or movie that the author expects the reader to recognize.

Part and chapter	Reference or allusion	Type (movie, song, book, character)	Why did the author use it here?
Example: Part 1, Ch. 16	Padawan braid	Star Wars (movie series)	Shows how much Auggie loves Star Wars and how Julian uses the braid to single him out.
Example: Part 1, Ch. 28	The Cheese Touch	Diary of a Wimpy Kid (book and movie)	Describes how classmates avoid touching Auggie, as if he were moldy cheese.
Part 1: Auggie
Part 2: Via
Part 3: Summer
Part 4: Jack
Part 5: Justin
Part 6: Auggie
Part 7: Miranda
Part 8: Auggie

Think about it

Why do you think R. J. Palacio gives Auggie so many Star Wars references? What does science fiction mean to him?
Choose one song from the book, such as Natalie Merchant’s “Wonder” or David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” How does its message connect to the part where it appears?

More Wonder Resources

Wonder blog post

Teaching ideas, free samples, and the vocabulary list for the novel.

Read the blog post

Wonder novel study

The complete digital and printable book unit on Teachers Pay Teachers.

See the novel study